HEIDELBERG has exceeded its targets in the challenging financial year 2022/2023. The technology company generated sales of €2.435 billion compared with €2.183 billion in the previous year, which represents an increase of around 12 percent. The adjusted operating result rose from 5.1 percent to 7.2 percent. The free cash flow was positive at €72 million, but this figure benefited from non-recurring effects.
According to HEIDELBERG CEO Dr. Ludwin Monz. “We achieved a good outcome in a challenging environment in the financial year just closed,”
“Faced with further cost increases and a level of profitability that remains low, HEIDELBERG is initiating a value creation program, the aim is to further boost the company’s financial strength and step-up investments in growth areas.” he added
The new business strategy will lay the foundation for future investments. With its dual-track strategy, HEIDELBERG is pursuing two key strategic approaches. Firstly, the company is looking to make an impression on the printing market beyond its business with sheetfed offset presses, especially in the packaging market and digital printing. And, secondly, as it has already done with its wallbox business, HEIDELBERG will be unlocking new markets alongside its core business.
Scope for growth – targeting a higher free cash flow
To deliver innovation and, in particular, the associated growth, HEIDELBERG requires the necessary resources – whether to further strengthen its product portfolio in the growing packaging sector or to fund a development budget for the successful expansion of digital printing. With this in mind, the company is looking to significantly increase its free cash flow in the medium term.
According to HEIDELBERG CFO Tania von der Goltz. She said “We will provide and redistribute the resources for growth through our own internal efforts so as to successfully implement our growth strategy,” That particularly applies to the market environment, which remains challenging and shapes the outlook for 2024.
Successful financial year 2022/2023 in a difficult economic environment
Thanks to a strong final quarter, sales in financial year 2022/2023 were slightly higher than the forecast level of €2.3 billion, amounting to around €2.435 billion (previous year: €2.183 billion). Strong growth in the Packaging Solutions segment made a particular contribution to the result. The order backlog on March 31, 2023, remained high at around €848 million (previous year €901 million).
Price adjustments and positive sales developments had a particular impact on EBITDA. At 8.6 percent, the EBITDA margin exceeded the target of at least 8 percent. Adjusted for earnings from the sale of fixed assets, the EBITDA margin was 7.2 percent (previous year: 5.1 percent). Due to the higher absolute EBITDA level and financial and tax results that benefited from non-recurring relief, the net result after taxes amounted to €91 million. This result was thus much better than the predicted slight improvement on the previous year’s figure (€33 million). It also exceeded market expectations, which had already moved beyond the original forecast in the course of the financial year.
